How many phone numbers do you know by heart?

[golden eagle]

Let's say you lose your cell phone, or that all your contacts' phone numbers were erased from your phone. If this happened to me, I know around seven I know by heart. This is not counting 911, radio stations, etc. I know my mom's home, cell and work number; my brother's cell (doesn't have a home phone); my grandma's home number; my cousin's home number (has no cell); and my work.

Having phone numbers programmed in our phones have made us lazy at memorizing numbers.

[oscar]

Only ones I would be sure of, from memory, are my own home and cell phone numbers, my condo association, my Toyota dealer, my barber, and one of my two sisters (the other is a maybe). I still remember my own and some of my colleagues' old work numbers, all of which have probably been reassigned in the years since I and they left. I also can still nearly remember the work number of a lawyer who I often worked against, though I would sometimes transpose two digits of her number and accidentally reach someone else at her firm.

[Duke87]

Having a smartphone which stores contacts does change your way of doing things. You only remember phone numbers if you have or have had a habit of dialing them.

I know both my parents' cellphone numbers as well as the landline at their house. I know the landline at my godparents' house. I know the main number at my office. I know the conference call line I use for work a lot as well as the passcode to get in.  I know the number of the pizza place we ordered from every week when I was younger. I still know the old number of my best friend from high school despite the fact that it has been inactive for years.

But I haven't a goddamned clue what my girlfriend's phone number is without looking it up in my contacts. I couldn't even tell you which of the locally overlaid area codes she has.

[english si]

I can do my home phone, and (for a strange reason, plus easy memorability) 727999 which is a phone box near me that I (nor anyone) would never have a reason to call. I've never been able to remember phone numbers unless the owner of it goes to great length to do it - eg a jingle (and as such tend to be of the radio station vein).

[formulanone]

I can probably recall more defunct numbers (past homes, deceased relatives, former workplaces or businesses), than the amount of currently needed phone numbers. I've also let many phone calls go right to voice mail if I don't at least recognize the area code. I wonder if ten-digit dialing and area code overlays can also be to blame, usually 7-8 was a good limit for memorization.

Sad, but true...probably about five numbers, including my wife's phone.

[JKRhodes]

There was a time when I worked as a dispatcher, and knowing phone numbers by heart helped me do my job more efficiently. At that time, I probably knew upwards of 50 phone numbers off the top of my head.

[golden eagle]

But I haven't a goddamned clue what my girlfriend's phone number is without looking it up in my contacts. I couldn't even tell you which of the locally overlaid area codes she has.

Same here. The women I dated--I don't have a clue of what their numbers were without it being programmed. Those are among the ones we need!

I also remember my old house number, my grandma's old number, and my late aunt's home number.

[jeffandnicole]

I can probably recall more defunct numbers (past homes, deceased relatives, former workplaces or businesses), than the amount of currently needed phone numbers. I've also let many phone calls go right to voice mail if I don't at least recognize the area code. I wonder if ten-digit dialing and area code overlays can also be to blame, usually 7-8 was a good limit for memorization.

Sad, but true...probably about five numbers, including my wife's phone.

I had read that 7 number phone numbers were used because that's what the number of digits people could remember (although that sounds more like "if it's on the internet it must be true").

Even 10 digit dialing wasn't too bad at first because you could still associate the 3 digit Area Code with a region, the 3 digit exchange with a local area, and the remaining 4 digits with the individual person. 

But since around 2000, cell phones can be programmed easily, you can take your phone number wherever you go, people have gotten rid of their home phones, and many small businesses - especially those on the road - simply use cell phones now, so those geographic numbered landmarks no longer exist.  Thus, remembering and associating phone numbers is the thing of the past.

[kurumi]

But now when you get someone's number (sometimes the only time you see it), the area code can be a topic of conversation. Recent one was 412 -- Pittsburgh -- and she went to CMU. Doesn't miss the weather.

[vtk]

Ten digit dialing for local calls won't kill people's ability to remember numbers. With only two or three area codes in an area, the area code isn't remembered as three independent digits; rather, it's a token, equivalent to about half a digit of information.

I can remember, despite not having to dial them: mom/home, mom's cell, my & boyfriend's mobile lines 1 & 2 (ostensibly shared, but practically line 1 is mine and line 2 is his), my brother who's also on the family plan with me mom & boyfriend, one of my best friends, a pizza place on Ohio State campus, dad's house, dad's cell, neighbors across the street, one of my former dorm rooms.  A couple of those, I've acquired after getting a phone with contact storage.

[formulanone]

But now when you get someone's number (sometimes the only time you see it), the area code can be a topic of conversation. Recent one was 412 -- Pittsburgh -- and she went to CMU. Doesn't miss the weather.

I find this to be a good conversation starter as well. Maybe I'm spending more time memorizing those instead of actual phone numbers.

XKCD is slightly off...I chose the last three digits of my cell...same digits as my long-defunct home phone number.

[freebrickproductions]

Exactly three:

• My home phone number
• My friend's home phone number
• My distant relative Charles Pittman's phone number for his law office (due to his annoying ads on both the TV and radio)

[corco]

I can probably recall more defunct numbers (past homes, deceased relatives, former workplaces or businesses), than the amount of currently needed phone numbers. I've also let many phone calls go right to voice mail if I don't at least recognize the area code. I wonder if ten-digit dialing and area code overlays can also be to blame, usually 7-8 was a good limit for memorization.

Amusingly, I have a landline but couldn't tell you that phone number.

Sad, but true...probably about five numbers, including my wife's phone.

I'm about the same. If I have 75 phone numbers memorized, at least 30 of them aren't even active numbers.

On the broader subject, I still know numbers I call often, but not necessarily those I text often but never call. Is still easier for me just to dial the number than to scroll through contracts, though that might change now that I have a smart phone and can't dial without entering a menu.

[kkt]

About half a dozen or so:  my cell, my landline, my work, admin. at work, ex-wife, a couple of other numbers related to work.

I also have a list of important numbers on a computer, and every few months I update it and print it out again and keep the list in my wallet, so if my cell phone dies just when I need it most I'm not sunk.

[PHLBOS]

-my land line

-my cell line

-my work numbers (both main office & NJ branch office)

-my previous work number(s) in MA that included 3 Danvers numbers & 2 Melrose numbers

-my brother's land line

-my mother's land line (it was my home line until I was 24)

-the number one used to dial to get the time & temperature (N-E-S-T-L-E-S) for the Greater Boston area

-three of friend's cell numbers (they had them well before I had my cell phone)

-the old pre-911 numbers for fire & police for my hometown (Marblehead, MA 631-1212 (police) & 631-1234 (fire))

-my college alma-matter's main phone number.

-my church's number.

-a few now-defunct numbers for several old friends.

-Control Data institute (in Burlington, MA are they still around? at 272-4070 from the old 70s-era TV ads.)

-Crimson Travel (at 742-8500 (Boston) or 868-6500 (Cambridge), again from old 70s-era TV ads. many w/Boomtown's Rex Trailer)

Sadly, once I got my cell phone a few years ago; memorizing more recent numbers (unless the number combo is rather catchy or unique) has gone by the wayside.

[Takumi]

-my current cell phone number
-my two previous cell phone numbers
-my dad's personal and work cell numbers
-my brother's current and previous cell numbers
-my mom's cell
-my mom's former landline
-the landline my parents had when they were married
-my grandma's landline and cell
-my stepmom's cell
-the home and cell numbers to 2 or 3 high school friends I haven't talked to in a good 6-7 years, at least
-at least 10 different numbers dealing with coworkers, home and cell
-both numbers to the 3 stores I work at, plus one number to two other stores that are relatively close
-the number to the bank I deal with for work
-the number to the local Honda dealership
-the numbers to 3 local pizza places

That's all I can think of for now. They're all the 804 area code.

[briantroutman]

With the exception of my wife's cell phone, which I've had to enter on various forms over the years, all of the phone numbers I've memorized are 15+ years old, mostly dating from my childhood when I would have been keying them in on a landline phone. This includes phone numbers of family members who have since died and school-age friends who moved out of their families' homes over a decade ago.

[riiga]

• My own number
• My mother and father's landline (my home number until 19)
• My mother's mobile
• My maternal grandparents' landline
• My maternal grandfather's mobile
• My paternal grandmother's landline
• My mother's work
• My uncle's landline
• My parents' neighbours' landline
• The emergency number (112)
• The police in non-emergency (114 14)
• The old emergency number (90000)

[Pete from Boston]

1-877-Kars-4-Kids

1-800-54-Giant

1-800-Mattres (leave the last S off for savings)

1-800-East-West (all you gotta do is call)

1-800
528
1, 2, 3, 4–Best Western!

(All but 1-800-Mattres were/are sung in their ads, which goes a long way toward memorizing.)

[Big John]

Does Jenny's count? (867-5309)

[1995hoo]

Hmmmm....

Our home phone (been the same since 2001)

My mobile (I've had the same one since 1999 when I first got a mobile)

My office number

My wife's old home phone (hasnt been valid since we got married in 2010 and she moved to my house)

My wife's mobile (but NOT her office number)

My parents' home phone (been the same since 1983)

My father's mobile (but not my mom's, she never answers it anyway)

My brother's mobile

My old phone numbers in college and law school that I haven't had for 20 years but still remember

My home phone number from 1975 to 1983 (I use this as my iPhone PIN)

My old work phone from 2000 to 2008, and the one before that from 1999 to 2000

My grandparents' old phone number (hasn't been valid since about 2002)

My father's work number when I was a kid

A family friend when I was growing up who I haven't seen since probably 2000, but I assume the number is still the same since they still live in the same place

My Capitals season ticket representative

A guy with whom I work regularly's office number (when I call him using Google Voice, I wind up typing in the number, so it ensures I know it)

A few former colleagues' work numbers

The former Virginia attorney general's mobile number (yes, I know him personally)


Spam numbers:

800-588-2300 Empire......today!

877-241-LUNA

877-Kars-4-Kids

USA-1000–The old Jhoon Rhee phone number from the 1970s (no longer valid–it was in the legendary "Nobody bodder me!" ad sung by Nils Lofgren that used to be ubiquitous on local TV)

[kkt]

If we're counting old numbers, my grandparents' phone number, that was the same from 1952 to 2008 aside from details such as all-number calling and an area code change.

[DandyDan]

I know exactly 4 by heart:
1. My home phone number
2. My cell phone number
3. My parent's home phone number, which was my old home number for several years longer than I wanted it to be.
4. My brother's cell, in which the 4-digit part of the number is derived from his birthday, just like mine.

[triplemultiplex]

Does Jenny's count? (867-5309)

+1

I don't know a single new phone number since I got a cell phone.  That's over a decade ago.
But I remember my home phone number from when I was a small child; a place I haven't lived since I was 7.

[Pete from Boston]

I know the number from a voicemail system I haven't used in 13 years, because it's the number I use for any and all personal data collection purposes like store loyalty cards and the like.  I know I am not alone in doing this, because when I give that phone number to look me up for a store discount, a bunch of people often come up.